Enhanced ex situ bioremediation of crude oil contaminated beach sand by supplementation with nutrients and rhamnolipids.

Mediterranean coastal regions are particularly exposed to oil pollution due to extensive industrialization, urbanization and transport of crude and refined oil to and from refineries. Bioremediation of contaminated beach sand through landfarming is both simple and cost-effective to implement compared to other treatment technologies. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the effect of alternative nutrients on biodegradation of crude oil contaminated beach sand in an effort to reduce the time required for bioremediation employing only indigenous hydrocarbon degraders.

Microcosm evaluation of autochthonous bioaugmentation to combat marine oil spills.

Oil spills can be disastrous to any ecosystem. Bioremediation through bioaugmentation (addition of oil-degrading bacteria) and biostimulation (addition of nutrients N&P) options can be a promising strategy for combating oil spills following first response actions. However, bioaugmentation is one of the most controversial issues of bioremediation since nutrient addition alone has a greater effect on oil biodegradation than the addition of microbial products that are highly dependent on environmental conditions.

Evaluation of autochthonous bioaugmentation and biostimulation during microcosm-simulated oil spills.

Oil spills are treated as a widespread problem that poses a great threat to any ecosystem. Following first response actions, bioremediation has emerged as the best strategy for combating oil spills and can be enhanced by the following two complementary approaches: bioaugmentation and biostimulation. Bioaugmentation is one of the most controversial issues of bioremediation.

Identifying constituents in commercial gasoline using Fourier transform-infrared spectroscopy and independent component analysis.

A new method is proposed that enables the identification of five refinery fractions present in commercial gasoline mixtures using infrared spectroscopic analysis. The data analysis and interpretation was carried out based on independent component analysis (ICA) and spectral similarity techniques. The FT-IR spectra of the gasoline constituents were determined using the ICA method, exclusively based on the spectra of their mixtures as a blind separation procedure, i.

Characterization of oil spills in the environment using parallel factor multiway analysis.

The aim of this study was to characterize samples of petroleum spills derived from the oily free-phase zone located in the subsurface of a petroleum refinery and to reveal the contained distinct petroleum fractions, thus enabling the identification of the spill origin. The samples were collected from different monitoring wells and were analyzed using gel permeation chromatography (GPC) combined with a UV-diode array detector. The PARAFAC algorithm was employed for the analysis of the 3-D experimental data matrix, which contained the areas under the chromatographic trace, measured for distinct time slices over the 270-440 nm UV range for the whole sample population.